Doubles & Valentines
by Ariette24
Summary: It's Austin and Ally's first Valentine's Day together. Neither of them are all that excited though, it's just another day. But it turns into something else entirely when Kira suggests going on a double date with her and her new boyfriend. Here's a little something I wrote for V-Day. Happy Valentine's Day Everyone! P&M Universe.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hello lovelies! I'm back with a new Valentine's Day tale. And yes, I purposely waited until Valentine's Day to post this one. Happy Love Day, Loves!

So I've got about 90% of this done and will be posting the rest on the upcoming Sunday's! I have 4 chapters, the last one being very short. I hope you all enjoy this little story I wrote. Remember! This is in line with my first story, **Parties & Mistakes**, and follows my second one, **Angels & Traditions. **You don't necessarily need to have read it, but there are some things you should know:

1\. Austin and Ally have been together for 2 months.

2\. Ally's parents are not divorced yet.

3\. Kira is Austin's jilted ex girlfriend.

4\. It's senior year, and in this story, it is February. November-December was a very trying time in my universe of A&A.

5\. I have no knowledge of what happened in season 4 and my FF probably takes place around season 2ish, just with everyone being 17 and in their last year of high school.

And that's about all you need to know! But by all means, if you want to read my previous stories, go right ahead. I won't stop ya;)

As always, Read, Review, and Enjoy!:)

Doubles & Valentine's

Chapter 1: Ally's POV

"God I hate Valentine's Day," Trish said, slamming her tray down on the lunch table and sitting across from me.

"Well hello to you too," I said.

Trish sent me a sidelong glance from across the table and pursed her lips. I held up my hands in defense, looked down, and smirked. I picked at the concoction from the cafeteria as I waited for her upcoming rant.

"It's such a dumb holiday," she began. "And I know you agree with me!"

I nodded, taking a bite of mac and cheese. "Yeah, very commercialized and all that."

"Exactly!" Trish said, flinging her hands around wildly and accidentally hitting the chair next to her. "That's what I'm saying. You turn every corner and all you see is Valentine's this and Valentine's that. It's ridiculous!"

"Well it is tomorrow," I said. "That might have something to do with all the festivity."

Trish rolled her eyes and turned to her food. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. In all seriousness, there are very few holidays the girl likes. I think Christmas and her birthday are about it. Maybe Halloween? But that's pushing it. Trish stopped liking Halloween when we stopped going trick or treating.

"Okay, but like is all of this really necessary?" she asked, gesturing to our surroundings.

I looked up around the cafeteria, the school had really gone all out this year. Considering Valentine's Day is literally only one day and it's only celebrated by people who are couples, it seemed a little unreasonable to actually care. For some reason, everyone was ecstatic about Valentine's Day this year. And I still don't understand it.

There were paper hearts hanging from the ceiling, a giant stuffed bear holding a heart laid in the far corner of the Caf, our mascot dressed as Cupid was roaming around the halls, and tables had been set up in the main entranceway, the Caf, and the guidance office, where you could buy a paper heart, profess your love for someone on it, and hang it up on any of the windows. Admittedly, I'd bought one for Austin. And he'd bought one for me. We hung them up together. Beside each other's.

But I could see where Trish was coming from. It was all a little bit overwhelming.

"It's a little odd," I laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen the school this decked out for any holiday."

"Yeah, I'd draw the line at red and pink garlands on all the stairs."

"You think that's where they cut off? Come on, what about Manny the Manatee dressed as Cupid? That's awful."

Trish shook her head, sending dark curls left and right. "Oh God, and let's not forget the matchmaker survey!"

I giggled. I'd forgotten about that. How could I? That had been the extent of Valentine's Day at Marino High for the past 3 years. A week before the "Day of Love" hit, a scantron sheet would be passed around to all of the classes. Everyone filled out the tedious questions - What's your favourite eye colour? What's your favourite hair colour? How tall is your ideal mate? - and placed them in the Manila envelope at the front of the class. Then come Valentine's Day, you could buy your results for $2. I always bought mine. Trish and I always went to the Sonic Boom after school that day and laughed at our results. Some of the people they said would be your ideal match were absolutely ridiculous.

I remember one year I had Batman on my list. Yes. Batman.

"Don't even knock those," I said, waving my hand back and forth. "You know how great they are!"

"Oh yes! And totally accurate too!" Trish giggled, with yet another eye roll. "I mean look at you now, dating Batman!"

"And look at you dating Dez!"

Trish began laughing hysterically, as if the idea was as far fetched as me going out with Batman. It wasn't long before I had joined in on her laughter. Not because I genuinely found the idea of Dez dating anyone funny, but because Trish has the most contagious laugh in the world.

But soon the laughter died down and Trish returned to her previous scowl. The Valentine's Day Slump...

"You're not..." I started. "You aren't upset about Valentine's Day because of Jace, right?"

Trish scoffed. "What would make you think that?"

Like always, her eyes gave her away.

"Should we have a GNO tomorrow night?" I asked.

Trish vehemently shook her head. "God no."

I feigned hurt, placing my hand overtop of my heart. "Ouch! Didn't realize I was such a horrible option!"

"You know that's not what I meant," she said. "It's just your first Valentine's Day with Austin and that's kind of big."

"We've been dating for like 2 months. It's not that big of a deal. Plus -"

"Oh please," Trish interrupted. "Maybe you've been dating for 2 months in the real world, but in bullshit months you've been dating for like 3 years!"

"I'm sorry," I said, stifling a laugh. "Bullshit months?"

She rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that lunch period. "You know what I mean. You guys are so beyond the point of 2 months of dating in normal speak."

I nodded. She had a point. Maybe I wouldn't have called them bullshit months though...

"Okay but anyway, as I was saying. Austin and I decided to go low key for Valentine's Day, so it doesn't matter who I spend it with. It's just another day in the whole scheme of things."

"Ally!" I heard yelled across the cafeteria.

Students turned their heads, curious to see if I had riled up some new gossip. I'd noticed that lately. Whenever someone called my name from across the hall, everyone looked. Not just a few curious heads. Everyone. So much for forgetting after Christmas break...

The stares get even worse when it's Kira yelling my name.

I turned my head to see Kira prancing towards us. Her shiny hair flowed around her like a mane and bounced with each step she took, making her deep red dress look all the more polished. There was a tall, dark eyed, long haired boy following behind her.

"Ally," she said. "This is Pierre LaCroix. He's Spanish."

I cocked my eyebrow and heard Trish disguise a laugh as a cough. Spanish? Right...

"Bonjour," Pierre said, winking, clearly emphasizing the fact that he was indeed, French.

"Isn't it a beautiful language?" Kira gushed.

I nodded and glanced over at Trish, who was trying hard to contain her laughter. I smirked and turned in my chair to face Kira.

"So what's up?" I asked.

It wasn't often that Queen Bee Wannabe, Kira, wanted to talk to me. She may have claimed to have forgiven me, but I still saw a sneer cross her features whenever Austin showed me any sort of affection.

"Well like I said, this is Pierre," Kira smiled, gesturing to the boy beside her, once more. "He's here on exchange. And he just so happens to be my new boyfriend!"

She grinned and forced herself against Pierre's chest. He looped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead. She melted into him.

"Oh," I said. "Awesome."

Was there really anything else I could say to her? Good for you! You moved on?

Nothing really seemed all that appropriate. I still had a shock of guilt for what I'd done to her. I only hoped she felt somewhat guilty for what she'd imposed on me.

Kira pulled out the chair next to mine and Pierre stood protectively behind her, tapping his hands against the plastic. She took my hands and squeezed.

"Ally, this may be a completely weird request and I totally get why you would say no," Kira began, sending my mind reeling. "But I think we should go out on a double date."

"What?" I said.

"Me and Pierre. You and Austin," she said, squeezing my hands once more. Her smile was engrossing, enchanting. The red lipgloss looked murderous and angelic at the same time. I couldn't pinpoint how she was able to do it. "Come on. It'll be fun."

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. She'd asked this once before. Posed a ridiculous idea of double dating in her defunct apology. Couldn't she tell I could hardly look at her without thinking of... everything?

Everything she did to me. Everything she changed in my life. Everything that kept me awake and worrying for days on end.

I blinked and tried to search for anything in the depths of my brain to say.

"Uhhh," was all I was able to stumble over.

"Seriously, Ally," Kira said, patience wavering for only a second. "It'll be awesome. Like tons of fun. We can go for like, karaoke, or something. Whatever you like, yeah?"

I raised my eyebrows and sent a pointed look at Trish again. She had gone from trying to hold in her laughter, to a mask of confusion. Quite honestly, I felt about the same. Trish shrugged and I turned back to Kira, absently noticing Austin and Dez in the distance.

Oh thank God.

"Hey," Austin said, sliding into the chair on my other side.

He hadn't noticed Kira or the dark, brooding figure standing behind her. He put a hand on my shoulder, trying to gauge my standoff-ish behaviour.

"Oh hey Kira," Dez said, finally drawing attention to the devil in disguise.

Austin looked around me and stared at Kira for a moment. His eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

Kira grinned and dropped my hands. "Hello Austin," she said. "I was just talking to Ally about how great it would be for the four of us to go out on a double date!"

"Four of us?" Austin said.

"Yes," Kira gestured to the silent man behind her. "This is Pierre LaCroix. My new boyfriend."

"Oh."

"So how does tomorrow sound to the two of you?"

"Valentine's Day?"

"Oh yeah," Kira said, nodding as if she had just remembered the day. "Right I totally forgot about Valentine's Day."

"Right," Trish said, drawing out the last syllable of the word.

Austin glanced over to me, questions in his eyes. I absently chewed on a strand of my hair and shook my head very slightly. He worked a side of his lips and met Kira's gaze once more.

Austin cleared his throat. "Kira I -"

"Austin, Ally, please," Kira said, reaching out to both of us. "I know I certainly haven't been on my best behaviour the past few months. Honestly you could say I've been a bit of a little shit. Or as Pierre says, a 'petite merde'. But I promise you I have no ulterior motive. Nothing. I just think double dates are fun! And I want to make amends bigger than just apologizing. Can I make that happen?"

"Kira, I appreciate the gesture, really," Austin said, genuinely sincere. "It's just Valentine's Day we kind of have plans."

Dez laughed. "What? No you don't!"

Austin and I glared at Dez. A glare to which he seemed taken aback by. He had pushed his head back so far, it gave him the impression of multiple chins.

"I'm confused," Dez stated.

"What else is new?" said Trish.

It was Dez's turn to glare now. But only for a moment. He shook it off and turned back to Austin. "I thought you were saying that you and Ally weren't doing anything and were just being low key for Valentine's Day... Something about Ally not really caring for the holiday?"

I laughed, Austin face palmed, and Trish slapped Dez's arm. Leave it to Dez to set the record straight.

"Alright then it's just another day," Kira said, smiling. "Come out with us, you guys! You and Dez can come along too, Trish!"

"I'm not sure I like what that implies..." Trish said, scowling.

Kira gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you two not dating?"

Trish and Dez sputtered. Dez spit out his food with a hearty laugh and Trish shook her head, stabbing a potato with a fork.

"Okay fine," Austin said and my heart sunk. "If there's absolutely no other day in the world, we'll go out with you guys tomorrow."

"Oh excellent!" Kira said. "I'll pick you guys up from Austin's house at 7:30! Tootles!"

And just like that she sauntered off, her shadow, following.

"Seriously?" I said.

* * *

 **AN:** Reviews make my day:)


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Hello again! How was everyone's Valentine's Day? Mine was good... Until I got food poisoning... Excellent stuff, really. Word of the wise: don't get food poisoning! Haha I would get sick on my break.

Butttttt that's not the point. I just wanted to say thank ya for reading the first chapter of this and I hope you enjoy the rest of it.:) This chapters a bit of filler, but sets up the more meaty (and romantic) third chapter. Yay!

So here we go! Read, Review, and Enjoy!:) (seriously though you should review because I love reviews haha)

 **Disclaimer:** I forgot this in my last chapter so I'm putting it here now! You know the drill. I don't own Austin  & Ally, but I do own this storyline and my previous stories;)

Doubles & Valentines

Chapter 2: Ally's POV

I'd searched my wardrobe early in the morning on Valentine's Day to find something to wear on the double date. Kira had texted Austin - I hated that she hadn't deleted his number, but that's a different story - that we'd be going to the fanciest restaurant in town. Of course we would. Only the best for Kira!

At least she was paying.

But I didn't have anything fancy enough. I debated wearing the black, Bond Girl dress that I'd worn on my first date with Austin, but that seemed... Ill-placed?

And maybe I didn't want to look at that dress. It was absolutely ridiculous but I didn't want to look at half of the things in my closet. I'd gotten rid of most of my clothes, but my mom wouldn't let me get rid of everything. After Christmas break was over I got the itch to completely reinvent my wardrobe. Well, not reinvent, more like buy new things that were still the same style.

Whatever it was, I just didn't want to wear or look at things that represented that totally uncertain time in my life. Thank God for gift cards and Christmas money!

In all the piles of new clothes though, I didn't have anything outright fancy. So I shrugged it off and relegated the problem to later tonight. I could solve the problem before 7pm for sure. All I had to focus on was getting through the day. Soon it would be over and I'd hopefully never have to deal with Kira again.

Hopefully.

Lord knows you can't always get want you want though.

I slammed my locker shut and buckled my bag, only to be confronted by Trish who had been silently standing behind the open door. I jumped.

"Hey!" she said. "Happy Day of Love!"

"You seem bright and chipper," I said, raising an eyebrow.

She laughed. "No. Just at a level of sarcasm that's now too high to be picked up on earth."

"Ah I should have known!"

Silence settled between us for a moment. I held my gaze high and continued walking to the music hallway. My nerves were not allowed to permeate the air today.

"So how're you feeling about this double date?" Trish asked, once we'd stopped in front of the classroom. She picked at her newly red nails and shot me a half smile.

I shook my head. "I could definitely be feeling better about it."

"Hey, don't even worry. It's just one stupid day out of 365. Just focus on Austin."

"I intend to do that," I said, unable to keep a smile from appearing on my lips.

"Speaking of," Trish said, gesturing to the blonde boy making his way down the hall. She flipped her curls over her shoulder as she headed the opposite way to her class. "Gotta get to class! But you two be safe now! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"What does that limit?" I giggled.

She flipped me off as a way of waving.

Austin walked over to my side and slipped a hand around my waist. He led me into the classroom and we sat behind the music stands. The music teacher, Mr. Ryder, was placing new sheet music on each stand around the room.

"What was that about?" Austin asked.

"What was what about?"

"You and Trish."

I laughed. "Nothing. It's just what we do."

"I didn't mean her giving the finger, I've seen her do that many times before. I meant... You guys seemed to be talking about something pretty intently."

My eyes trailed over to the exchange student in the corner of our classroom. Pierre LaCroix. Only after Kira had introduced him yesterday, did I realize I'd seen him before. He was on exchange from France - not that Kira cared to note - and was shadowing the classes of his homestay. One of those classes happened to be music.

And as we soon found out, Pierre happened to be quite the violin aficionado. Like he was amazing.

"I think you already know what it was about," I said, wrinkling my nose.

Austin's gaze followed mine, his mouth forming an 'O' in understanding. He bit his lip, then squeezed my shoulder.

"I honestly wouldn't worry about it," he said, matching my whispering tone. "I mean, yeah it's Kira. And yeah she's a total shit disturber, but I just don't get a bad vibe from this."

I raised my eyebrows. "Because you're very privy and knowledgable in the vibe department."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," I sighed. "I just don't want to go."

He slumped back in his chair and looked over at the wall clock. "Yeah, me either."

"Then why'd you say yes?"

"I had no other choice."

"No is a choice," I stared at him impassively, stubbornly. He seemed torn between reassuring me and demanding that I stop. Which, to be honest, I knew I probably should.

Pointlessly worrying over something gets me nowhere, as I've come to learn.

"It's fine," I conceded.

"Look Al," he said. "I get what you're feeling. I get that you don't want to associate with someone who made your life a living hell for 3 months. Believe me, I get that. I'm not saying by any means that I condone her actions, because I don't. And you know exactly how I feel about everything she's done. But a part of me has to believe that people are genuinely good and they actually want to make amends. I think that's what she's trying to do. And if that's what she's trying to do, then I'm willing to give her a second chance."

I chewed on a fingernail and dropped my gaze. "Maybe I'm not."

The bell rang and announcements began. I stared at my brown suede boots, absently tapping a toe. I felt Austin squeeze my shoulder once more, then draw circles with his fingertips.

He knew the effect he had on me. The constant contact. The gentle reassurance.

It was a tiny gesture, but it unknotted the nerves in my stomach.

He drew me closer to him, my head resting in the crook of his arm. He kissed my forehead.

"I would never do anything that could possibly put you in harms way Ally," he said. "If you feel like we shouldn't do this, then we don't have to. I was just saying it could be fun."

I remained silent, but stayed in his embrace.

"And since it's technically a holiday," I heard Mr. Ryder say. "We'll be deviating from the normal syllabus and will be playing some classic love songs. I've given each of you some sheet music, that's the song you'll be playing on your instrument of choice."

I moved forward in my seat and snatched my sheet music. My Heart Will Go On. Great.

Although it's not bad on piano. Cheesy as hell, yes. But it's got some good instrumentals.

I heard Austin snicker and I snaked back to his side. He tipped the page for me to see. Thinking Out Loud.

"I wouldn't say it's a classic yet," Austin whispered.

"Shhh," I said. "It's Ed Sheeran. I would dance to his songs at my wedding."

Austin rolled his eyes.

"Alright," Mr. Ryder said. "Who's first?"

* * *

A&A

* * *

"Al," Austin said, sidling up next to me in the hallway after last period.

"Yes?" I said.

He grabbed my wrist and spun me around into his chest. And just like that, in the middle of the hallway, he kissed me. I was shocked at first, my arms glued to my sides, my eyes wide. But it didn't take me long to regain my composure. I craned up on my tiptoes and closed my eyes, investing myself into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck, playing with the hair that just touched the collar of his shirt.

"Hi," Austin said, pulling back from the kiss, but still keeping his hands on the small of my back and me pressed against him. I absently noticed I was also against a wall.

"Hi," I laughed.

"Just wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day," he said. "With everything going on I realized I hadn't said it yet."

"Well that's quite the way to say it," I said. I pushed against his chest and linked our hands together as I made my way towards my locker.

He grinned sheepishly. "Well you know I try."

I nodded. Oh lord did the kid try. And I loved him all the more because of his spirit.

We made our way up the stairs, through the crowded hallways, to my locker. I had to push past a few cheerleaders in order to actually open it though. There were always cheerleaders by my locker because the star football player had one two down from mine. The cheer population tripled come the final bell.

I rolled my eyes and entered the combo. It opened on the first try, something I wasn't expecting from the locker that had been giving me grief since mid September. It swung too far and smashed into the shoulder of a puffy haired, over made up, blonde cheerleader.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I said.

"Wow," she said. "Seriously? What the fu-"

She stopped short, her face froze. Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed. She pivoted on her heel and started walking the other way.

"Dianna why didn't you go off on her?" said a very petite girl in her cheer uniform who had followed the blonde.

"I like my boyfriend too much to have him stolen," I heard 'Dianna' say as she walked away.

My mouth dropped and Austin's eyebrows raised. My eyes met his and I saw a spark in them. He laughed lightly.

"Seriously?" Austin said.

I reached into my locker and pulled out a pile of books that I'd need to study with over the weekend. My shock of the moment weighed out over laughter.

"Is that what people think of me?" I whispered.

Austin shrugged. "Cheerleader's with half a brain, maybe." He leaned in towards me and whispered, "But who really cares about them? I'm happy for us and that's all that should matter, right?"

I smirked and switched out books in my bag that I didn't need. I stared at the contents of my locker, mentally going over my schoolwork schedule, then closed and locked the door.

"Besides," Austin said as we started making our way to his car. "If Kira can get over it, then everyone else should too!"

"Do you really think Kira is over it?"

"Is that what you're so concerned about?" He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me against his side.

"Maybe," I said. "I don't even know why I'm so bothered by this. I think I've always kind of had a problem with her, even when we first met her, even when you guys were dating. She just has this really unpredictable side and I'm not okay with that. Especially not after -"

"Yeah I know," Austin sighed and ran his free hand through his hair. "I can't say many good things about her myself."

"Many?" I said, raising an eyebrow.

He winked and lightly bumped my hip. "You know what I mean. She's just... She's someone who maybe has a screw loose."

"Maybe."

"And yeah, you're right. She's really unpredictable. I didn't realize how bad that was until everything happen. When we dated she channeled it into, like, random dates and stuff."

"That's spontaneity, not unpredictability," I said.

He shrugged. "Bottom line is I get what you're saying. She's not the greatest person, but I think she's trying to, you know extend a branch."

"Extend the olive branch? You think she's trying to make up for what she did?"

"I don't know, maybe. That is what she said she was doing, isn't it?"

Austin unlocked his rusty car and opened the trunk. He threw in his backpack and gestured for me to do the same. I did. I followed him to the passenger sid, where he opened the door for me, and I shuffled in. I slammed the door shut and waited for him to return to the drivers seat.

"Only she knows what she's doing," Austin said. He buckled his seatbelt and turned the key in the ignition. "We don't have to go though."

Joy overtook me in that moment. I felt it in the pit of my stomach and couldn't help a smile forming on my lips. But how rude is that? I'm happy I don't have to see someone?

"You don't have to feel bad if you don't want to go," Austin said, reading my mind.

I stayed silent as Austin backed out of the parking spot and drove out of the lot. At the first stoplight, his gaze trailed over to me, his right hand took mine.

"I'm serious," he said, squeezing my hand. "I don't care whether we go or not. I just want to spend Valentine's Day with you."

"That's stupid," I mumbled.

"Why's that?"

"Because it's just a day. It doesn't really mean anything."

He shrugged, eyes back on the road, and moved into the intersection. "It's still a day that I want to spend with you. But you're right, that's no different from any other day of the year."

I flushed, my mouth quirking upward. Butterflies floated out of my body and filled the car. I was too in love with him for my own good.

"However," he said, when he pulled into my driveway. "Valentine's Day is different. That means I can shower you in presents."

He reached into the backseat and pulled out a long wrapped box, with a pink bow on top. How did I not see that?

"Austin," I said, taking the box from his hands. "I thought we weren't getting each other anything!"

"Shhh," he said. "It's a gift for both of us."

I laughed. "It's food, isn't it?"

He raised his eyebrows and lifted up his hands. Classic 'I don't know, but I do' pose.

I undid the bow and carefully unlatched the tape from the paper. Underneath the hearts was just what I had suspected: chocolate.

"You think I'm going to share this?" I smirked.

"Well yeah," he said. "They're really good chocolates and I love you!"

I leaned in and kissed him. "Aw, I love you too!" I reached for the door handle and opened it. "But you thought wrong. These chocolates are mine!"

I jumped out of the car and ran with my chocolates to my front door.

"Ally," he said through laughter. "I still have your bag!"

"Keep it!" I said. "I'll see you at 7 anyway."

His forehead wrinkled and his eyebrows drew together. "Does that mean we're going?"

I smiled and nodded. Yes we'd be going. I'd put on a show, just like what I expected Kira would be doing. Four people all pretending that this night wasn't going to be the most awkward dinner in the history of awkward dinners.

But hey, at least I had chocolates to get me through.

And Austin. Always Austin.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** I had one very very long Valentine's Day date chapter and split them into two! So now instead of this being 4 chapters all together, it'll be 5! Although, the last one is still an epilogue. Either way, here is the beginning of their date which is mainly focused on Austin and Ally and has a bit of fluff.

Also, guys, I wrote a song... And it's fully awful so I apologize for it. But Austin wrote it in the story so it's good it ain't perfect;) But if you think it's good, then great! Thank youuuuuuuu!

Also thank you so much for the reviews, follows, favourites, reads, and looks at my previous stories. I truly do love all of you!:)

That's enough of me talking! Read, Review, and Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** No.

Doubles & Valentines

Chapter 3: Ally's POV

"Okay," my mom said. "How about this?"

I shook my head. It was a skintight, bright pink mini dress that my mom had found in the back of her closet. It screamed tight and bright 80s party. It was awful.

"How about you use the top of this and then put a skirt overtop of it to change it up a bit!"

"Because I don't have the boobs to support a strapless dress."

My mom laughed and returned to the depths of her closet.

"It's funny to you because you do!" I said, slightly above my normal voice level.

"Barely," she said producing another red dress from her closet. "But there's this lovely invention called a push up bra, if ever you want a little help."

"I'll pass."

"Okay, how about this?"

"That's what I was passing on," I said, grinning.

My mom sighed and plopped down on the bed next to me. "Well honey, this is what happens when you get rid of half your closet. You have nothing to wear."

I sat up cross legged, placed my head in my hands, and groaned.

"What am I supposed to wear?"

"I don't know, Ally," my mom said. "But you have to decide soon. It's 6:30 and you haven't even done hair or makeup."

I pushed myself off the bed and threw myself into the depths of her closet. She had been pulling out dresses that were pink, red, white, and black - completely sticking to the theme of the day. I ran my fingers along the dresses and skirts in her closet. When did she get so many fancy things? She certainly didn't wear them very often. I hadn't even seen half of her wardrobe before.

A royal blue, silken dress caught my eye. I pulled the hanger from the rack and held the dress out in front of me. Thigh length and tight with a deep V in the front.

"Mom," I called out to her and stood by her bedside. "Do you think I can pull this off?"

She looked up from her phone and pursed her lips. "You know, I don't even remember buying that... But there's only one way to find out. Try it on!"

* * *

A&A

* * *

7:30pm came and I still hadn't left the house. Kira had changed the pick up time earlier today and all was set to be at Austin's right this minute. Our reservation was probably for 8. I could only imagine the hell I would get if I was the one who made us late. But maybe Kira would take even longer to get ready.

I hope.

I slipped my feet into a pair of black lace peep toe booties, then stood up. My toes were painted blue, a shade that matched the dress I wound up wearing. I shrugged on the cropped leather jacket I had received for Christmas and picked up the clutch that held my phone, lipstick, and other necessities, from the front desk.

"Mom! I'm ready!"

"You've got your present?" she asked, bounding down the stairs.

"It's not much of a present," I said with a smirk.

She shoved her feet into shoes and pulled her disheveled auburn hair into a ponytail. I watched her disappear into the kitchen and come out with the box I had wrapped. She handed it to me then shrugged on a hoodie. I gave her a subtle once over. She was looking a little shabby. Though, quite frankly, I'd rather be looking shabby and hanging out with Austin than going to this thing.

"Are you and dad doing anything tonight?" I asked once we started driving.

"Oh," she said. "No I don't think so. He's actually working tonight."

I nodded. "Well at least he got you that giant bouquet."

"Oh those were gorgeous!" she smiled. "And once I drop you off I can go home, lie down, binge watch some episodes of Gilmore Girls, and eat those chocolates you brought home."

"Hey!" I snapped my head towards her. "We're only on season 6! You can't watch anymore while I'm gone. I need to see if Rory goes back to Yale!"

"So the chocolates are fair game?"

"Absolutely not."

She laughed and parked in front of Austin's house. I took a long and shaky deep breath. I reached for the door handle and opened it slowly. My mom grabbed my wrist, making me angle my body back towards her.

"Are you ok?" she asked me. "With Kira."

I nodded. "Yeah I'll be fine."

She pursed her lips. She didn't believe me. But I didn't believe myself either. I was only going on the basis that Austin would never let Kira hurt me. I knew he would do everything in his power to make this night pleasant. Valentine's Day or not, Austin absolutely hated seeing me upset and he was not about to let Kira get me down. Again.

I pushed the door open further with my knee and stood on the curb.

"You'll call me when you need a ride?"

"Austin is going to take me home after dinner."

She mumbled an ok and waved. I closed the door and watched the car drive away. I stood on the sidewalk for a few beats of a minute, regaining my composure. I turned towards Austin's emerald green door and steeled myself.

I can do this. Kira isn't going to get to me.

The door opened before I got there. Austin's dad walked outside and moved to the trunk of his car. I watched as he pulled out a bouquet of pink, red, and white roses, there must have been at least 50 roses tied up with a giant bow. My mouth dropped. But he wasn't done. He pulled out a tiny blue box. Tiffany's. Damn.

"Oh," he said after closing the trunk and turning around. "I didn't see you there Ally. How long have you been out here?"

I laughed. "Not long, I promise. Maybe like a minute."

His eyebrows raised. Well I kinda question myself too. I shrugged and he nodded, some sort of unspoken code.

"What's in the box?" I asked, breaking our awkward silence.

He grinned and winked. "It's a secret."

"It's Tiffany's."

"That it is," he said. "Good eye."

Mr. Moon opened the door and allowed me to step in before him.

"Thank you," I mumbled.

"You're welcome." He smiled and closed the door once more. I absently wondered how he carried all that at once and still managed to open and shut the door. "Austin! Your lady is here!"

Austin appeared from what I could only assume was the kitchen of his house, apple in hand. He swaggered towards me, hair pushed back, deep red button up shirt sleeves rolled to the elbows, and dress pants perfectly pressed. He put the apple down on the front table and grinned.

"Malady," he said bowing before me and taking my hand to his lips in a gentle kiss.

I blushed. His eyes trailed from my hand and up my body, lingering on my chest. I couldn't remember a time when I had ever worn something that exposed myself so much, except maybe a bathing suit. He moved his eyes quickly to mine and smiled.

"You look gorgeous," Austin said.

"You just like my skin," I said, wrinkling my nose.

"Exactly," he said and I laughed. "I like your skin and no one else's."

"That's bullshit," I laughed.

He shook his head. "Nuh uh," he pouted, making me laugh some more. "You just have to face it, you have amazing skin."

"And the skin between my boobs just happens to be extra good, right?"

"Shhh," Austin said. His cheeks were a deep shade of red. He hadn't intended on having this conversation. "I think you're beautiful."

"Well thank you," I said.

I slipped out of my shoes, losing two inches.

"There we go," Austin said, pulling me into his arms. "Now you're the perfect height again."

I sighed against his chest, fitting myself into the empty spaces of his body. He rested his chin on top of my head and I listened to the steady beat of his heart. We fit perfectly.

"When is Kira getting here?" I whispered.

"She cancelled."

"What?" I said, jumping back from him and staring at his face. "Really?"

He shook his head from side to side. "I wish." He ran his hands along my arms and settled them on my elbows. "No, she didn't. I kinda wish she did though... She said they weren't going to get here until 8:30 now. Cancelling would have been more convenient."

"Can we cancel?"

"I'd say yes, but I'm not sure what she'd do if we cancelled."

I nodded. Austin moved his left hand from my elbow, to my hand and squeezed. He gestured towards the stairs with our entwined hands. I shot him a small smile. We headed up to his room and I sat down on his bed. I placed the box I'd wrapped next to myself and watched as he sat across from me in his desk chair, picked up his guitar, and slung it around himself. A sly side grin appeared on his face.

"Can I sing you a song?" he asked.

"You wrote me a song?"

He shrugged. "I tried."

My hands came to my chest, over my heart. "Aw Austin! You wrote me a song!"

"Yeah," he said, staring at his hands, cheeks reddening.

I stood up and bent down over him. I placed my hand under his chin and made him look up at me. He flipped his hair out of his eyes and smirked.

"You're the most adorable thing in the world," I whispered.

My hands moved to his cheeks and I brought his lips to mine. When I pulled back, the cheeky grin was still on his lips.

"Al, you should know by now that you're way more adorable." I smiled. "And sexy."

"Hardly," I mumbled. "You make sexy look effortless. I'm sure your fans would agree."

"Mmm I only care about my number one fan," he whispered, moving a hand through my hair and pulling me back to him.

In some swift movement, he whisked the guitar off his lap and onto the floor. I climbed on top of him, placing my legs on the outside on his thighs, and his arms wrapped around my waist. I felt his hands slip beneath my leather jacket, gently pushing it off and onto the floor of his room. My hands moved to his face as his right hand trailed slowly up the back of my left arm, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

I could feel the knots of nerves in my stomach, slowly coming loose under his kisses. Under his soft caresses.

Austin's hand tangled in my hair once more. I melted into him and sighed against his lips. I could feel his smile pressed against mine. These lips of his that were golden. These lips that were soft, and supple, and made me feel like I was a princess. These lips that were capable of making the most gorgeous music.

I pulled back.

"Austin," I said, breathless.

He looked up at me, hands returning to the bare skin of my upper arms. The little grin on his face, as I had suspected.

"You had a song for me."

"I did," he said, resting his forehead against mine. "I just got a little sidetracked."

I laughed and attempted to get up. It seemed much easier getting on the chair than it was getting off... But then again, I wasn't really thinking when I'd straddled him. I slid off the back of the chair, propelling myself into his bed and propelling the rolling desk chair clear across the room.

Austin's laughter reverberated around his room as he crashed into the door and fell off the chair.

"Oh my God," I started giggling uncontrollably at his lanky mess on the floor. "Are you ok?"

He nodded emphatically, still laughing. I walked over to the spot he occupied on the ground, just behind his bedroom door, and held out my hand. He was about to take it when his door opened. I jumped back and watched as the chair flew across the room once more.

"What on earth was that noise?" Mrs. Moon asked, storming into the room, eyebrows raised. She looked between the desk chair and her son huddled in the corner, then started laughing. "Austin, did you fall off your chair again?"

I sunk down against the footboard of his bed and my laughter returned. Again? As if he'd done it more than once? My stomach began to hurt as I curled up at the foot of the bed. Oh Austin Moon.

"No," Austin said, barely able to get the words out. "I did not fall again."

He pushed himself up off the ground and wiped at his eyes, which had begun to water due to our fit of giggles, with his shirt sleeve. His mom smirked, raised her eyebrows, and placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh really? So then why is your chair halfway across the room and you're on the floor?" she laughed.

"Ally pushed me!" Austin exclaimed, pointing in my direction and pouting like a small child.

"I so did not!"

"Then how exactly did I get over here?"

"Well apparently you can't stay on a chair. That's not my fault."

"Ally," he said, grabbing the chair from the other side of the room and placing it in front of me. "Let's see if you can stay on then."

"I'm the one who managed to get off of it."

"So then you admit you pushed me when you got off the chair."

"I didn't push you. The chair just gained momentum when I got off."

"So then it's still your fault."

Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, I remembered that Austin's mom was still in the room and it may have been because she let out another small laugh. My cheeks flushed as I realized that she probably understood what exactly we were doing on that chair.

"Okay you two are hilarious," she said. She began walked into the hallway then popped her head back into the room. "Door open guys."

I covered my mouth and Austin nodded with a wry smile. Once she had gotten to the bottom of the stairs, he closed the door, making sure to create no noise as he did so. I rolled my eyes and he shrugged.

"What?" Austin said. "I like my door closed."

I pushed myself up off his floor and cocked my head to the side. "Any particular reason why you like that, Moon?"

He merely laughed as he pushed the chair back to the spot in front of his desk. I bent down, picked up my jacket that had been thrown on the floor and folded it before placing it on his bed. I sat down again, straightening out the blue skirt of the dress over my thighs. I reached up to my hair, making sure it didn't scream out that I had just made out with Austin. Glancing at his hair, I realized it probably did. Not to mention my lipstick was probably smeared as it was now all over his lips. So much for lip stain.

I pulled a compact from my clutch and opened it up. My eyeliner was still dark, my lashes still long, eyelids still smokey, but my lips, that was a different story. The red was half missing, some now on my teeth, while my bottom lip lay bare. I rolled my eyes and ran my fingertip overtop of my red front tooth.

"What're you doing?" Austin asked.

"Fixing the damage," I said, turning the small mirror towards him so he could see my makeup on his face.

"Oh," he said, bringing the back of his hand to his mouth and wiping it off. He looked down at his hand, red lipstick smeared on it. "Did I get it all?"

I nodded and pulled the lipstick tube out of my clutch. I sighed. I paid good money for this, the least it could do was stay on.

After I had reapplied the lipstick, Austin was back at his desk chair. He put his guitar back on his lap and poised his hands over the strings.

"Alright," I said as I put the items back in my bag. "Sing to me."

He bit his lip for a moment and rested his arms on top of the curve of his guitar. "Okay," he said. "But bear with me here. I'm not as good as you are."

"Austin," I said, reaching out and touching his knee. "Give yourself some credit. I'm sure what you've written is amazing."

He let out a breathy laugh, then sighed. I'd never seen him so nervous. His hand shook over the strings of his guitar.

"Austin." He looked up at me. I smiled. "It's just me. It's okay."

"That's what I'm worried about," he said, shooting me a half smile.

I was about to open my mouth when he started playing. A slow, lilting melody spread across the room. I smiled and he paused then grabbed a half full water bottle off of his desk and downed it in a few swallows. He still seemed uncomfortable so I gestured to the spot next to me on the bed. He quickly got off of the chair and plopped down next to me, curling his right leg underneath himself. I turned to him and folded my legs to the side, supporting myself with my left arm. I nodded.

Austin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The same, slow but building melody emanated from his guitar. He alternated between strumming and creating a beat with the palm of his hand. He met my eyes, a twinkle in them, and started singing.

"Let's take it back to the start, I'll tell you how I feel,

You are my eternal sunshine and I am your endless moon.

Being with you is surreal

When I first met you I knew it was a sign, we'd be an us soon.

And now that we are I want you to know:

"You deserve roses, and daisies, and lilies, and love.

You're my whole world, I must admit.

You're my princess, you're my guiding light, you're my angel from above.

I would rather have you than a million hits.

I will shower you in kisses and never any lies,

All I want is the take away the pain that flashes behind your eyes.

Sometimes.

Ally.

All I want is you and I.

"We met each other, a long, long time ago,

And it took a while, but I can finally see what's ahead.

10 years ago we first said 'Hello'

Then somehow, somewhere, we ended up in a bed.

It feels like a dream, once nightmare, a dream, I'm flying.

And all I want you to know is:

"You deserve roses, and daisies, and lilies, and love.

You're my whole world, I must admit.

You're my princess, you're my guiding light, you're my angel from above.

I would rather have you than a million hits.

I will shower you in kisses and never any lies,

All I want is the take away the pain that flashes behind your eyes.

Sometimes.

Ally.

All I want is you and I.

"All of you is what I need

Please tell me that's where it will lead.

I love you.

I need you.

You are the only one that lights up my life.

Please tell me you feel the same way too.

"You deserve roses, and daisies, and lilies, and love.

You're my whole world, I must admit.

You're my princess, you're my guiding light, you're my angel from above.

I would rather have you than a million hits.

I will shower you in kisses and never any lies,

All I want is the take away the pain that flashes behind your eyes.

Sometimes.

Ally.

All I want is you and I.

All I want is you and I.

You and I."

Austin played the last few notes of his song, strumming slowly on the final chord. I stared at him. Blinked. Swallowed. Shifted. Smiled.

Silence filled the room as he placed his guitar back on the floor. He ran his hands along his black pants and picked at the fabric. I licked my lips and opened my mouth, trying to say something, anything. But being at a loss for words, nothing came out. I rubbed at my arms, trying to be rid of the goosebumps that had popped up all over my skin. I couldn't believe that that was his first attempt at writing a song. Was it? Or had he rewritten that a thousand times until it was perfect? Because it was perfect. It spoke to me. It made my stomach flip flop and butterflies fly and fire burn. It did all the cliche things. But how did I put that into words?

"Ahah I knew it wasn't any good," I heard him say.

"What?" I said, voice a decibel too loud, eyes a smidgen too wide.

"The song," he said. "You don't like it, do you?"

My mouth dropped open. Oh Austin. He ran a hand through his hair, messing it up, then back through to fix it.

I shook my head. "Austin, that was the best thing I've ever heard."

"You don't have to say that," he laughed.

"No ones ever written me a song, Austin," I said, reaching out to his fidgety hands. "Do you know how special that makes me feel? I can't believe you did this. And I can't believe that that was the first time you put words to your music. That was perfect. That was everything. I - I don't even know what to say. I can't believe you did this for me. Thank you!"

Somewhere between reassurance and speaking my mind, I starting crying. Not full scale sobs, but my eyes began to water and my throat croaked out the final words. Austin immediately reached out to me and enveloped me in his arms. He placed a kiss on top of my head.

"You really feel that way?" he asked.

I stuck out one of my arms for him to see. "Goosebumps."

He laughed and kissed the top of my head again. He trailed his kisses from there. From my forehead, to the tip of my nose, down my jawline, over my neck, along my collar bones, then up to my mouth. I closed my eyes and let myself give in to the kisses. It wasn't urgent like when I was on his lap. Instead, the kisses were slow, calculated, and soft.

My goosebumps reappeared, this time on my arms, legs, and in between my cleavage. Austin's fingertips incited the bumps to form. My body craved his soft and comforting touch. All I want is you and I. Yeah, that sounds about right.

"Austin!" a booming voice came from downstairs. "Austin, there's a limo outside our house, do you know anything about that?"

Austin audibly broke away from the kiss with a loud groan. I heard him mumble under his breath, causing me to let out a breathy giggle. He tramped over to his desk and grabbed his phone. From my position on the bed, I could see two text messages covering the screen.

"Kira's here," he sighed. He looked up at me, shaking the hair out of his face, and smiled reassuringly. "I promise I'll make it up to you."

I shrugged. "You already have. You wrote me a song. Now hurry up and record it so I can listen to it all the time."

He laughed and threw me his phone. "It's on there!"

"Oh my god, can I send it to myself!?"

"Way ahead of you there, Ally."

I grinned and followed his lead down the stairs, snatching up my clutch and jacket on the way down. He shrugged on a blazer and held out my jacket for me to get into after I had stepped into my heels. I glanced in the hallway mirror. Miraculously my makeup was still on my face and not smudged or all over Austin.

I was about to walk out the door when Austin held out a hand and stopped me.

"Hey," he said. "You had something for me and I didn't unwrap it."

"It's fine," I said, smiling. "It's just food."

"Okay, well now I want to unwrap it."

"When we get back," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

Austin's mom opened the door for us, smiling reassuringly. "And when the two of you get back home, door open."

"Yes ma'am," Austin laughed.

"You know I'm serious about that, Austin," she said, wagging a finger at him. "None of that frisky business."

My cheeks flushed a deep shade of red, and though Austin laughed it off, his cheeks were flaming too.

We walked outside and I grabbed his hand. He squeezed tightly as we made our way to the bright pink limo that was parked outside of his house. As we approached, a door popped open, and I noticed the handles were embellished in rhinestones. I met Austin's eyes in time to see them roll.

"Remind me again how you stayed with her for almost 6 months," I whispered.

He shrugged, though I knew he was thinking it too.

"Austin! Ally!" Kira exclaimed, jumping out of the limo.

She gave both of us a hug that seemed way too personal given the circumstances. Everything about her was red and shiny. Everything. She took the Valentine's Day theme and ran with it. She wore a mini dress covered in red sequins that barely covered her butt, and matching red pumps that had to be at least 4 inches high. Her dark brown hair was piled atop her head with sparkly silver strands braided throughout and a small diamond tiara adorned with red stones to complete the look.

Cupid must've thrown up on her. She literally looked like a shiny, trashy piece of a Valentine's Day display. Times a million.

"I'm so glad you guys could make it!" she said. Yeah, like we had a choice.

She gestured for us to come into the limo. Austin put out his arm for me to go in before him. I took a deep breath and climbed into the limo.

There were mirrors everywhere. The whole entire limo was covered in disco ball like glass. The walls, the floor, the windows. It even had a tiny chandelier that was projecting a dull pink light around the interior. Kira sat on the mirrored bench next to Pierre and pressed a button a few times. The colour on the chandelier blinked, and changed. Blue, yellow, red, green, white, orange, purple, multi-colour, then back to pink.

I shifted over on the bench, careful to keep my legs closed, and Austin shuffled in. His mouth dropped as he saw the inside of the limo. Kira smirked and let the chandelier switch colours once more.

"Pink right?" she said after she'd gone through all the colours. "I thought it fit the theme the best, don't you?"

I nodded. Austin didn't say a word.

"I normally just have it set on pink anyway. And red just seems too murder-y for Valentine's Day."

Did she know about the Valentine's Day massacre? I bit my lip to refrain from telling her.

"What do you think?" she asked. "This was my Christmas present. Daddy let me design it."

"It's like a giant pink disco ball," Austin murmured.

I laughed. Kira didn't seem so amused.

She pursed her lips and grabbed Pierre's hand, placing it in her lap. Her lips quirked upward once more. "So Austin," she said. "How's the singing thing going?"

Austin raised his eyebrows. "Kira, your dad's my producer. Shouldn't you have some idea of how that's going?"

She probably did. She probably knew all about the hold Jimmy Starr had over Austin's career. How he'd forbidden anything large being booked for months. I can't say I blamed Jimmy. I'd be pretty pissed too if some wannabe rockstar broke my daughter's heart. But something told me that Jimmy wasn't acting alone. Kira probably had a little bit of a say in what Austin could or could not do. Or maybe that was just the jealous and hurt girlfriend/best friend in me. Either way, I wasn't a fan of how Austin had been treated recently. How he hadn't been allowed to sing at the Disneyworld Christmas bash over the holidays. Or how even though his fanbase was still there, all the shows he had played recently were free, 50 people max, and turned down thousands of fans waiting outside.

Kira let out a long breath and cocked her head to the side, calculating. It didn't take this long to come up with an answer.

"Well," she started. "My dad's a big producer. I can't be expected to keep tabs on all his artists, can I?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Austin's jaw set. He suspected Kira had something to do with his denial in the music world as much as I did. But he also suspected that this dinner was maybe an apology for that.

Maybe not.

"Tension?" Pierre finally spoke up. His eyes shifted between the three of us, gauging our expressions.

Yes, the tension was palpable over the booming pop music in the limo.

"Oh no, Pierre," Kira said. "You're mistaken."

Pierre looked confused for a moment and Kira rolled her eyes.

"Mistake," she said, loudly and bluntly, how someone speaks to those hard of hearing when they're hard of mind. She gave him a thumbs down. "No." She shook her head from side to side. "Tension." She balled up her fists.

Oh God. This was going to be a fun night.

* * *

 **AN:** Next week will be an exciting (and funny) one! Drop me a review! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** So this took a little longer to be finished than I originally thought. Basically I had about 500 words left to write, which is no big deal, right? Except I couldn't figure out where to end it... So it took some playing around with, but now I'm finally happy! It is a bit long though, but I promise it is worth it.

On a different, yet somewhat related note, I wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, followed, favourited, waited, and stayed with me through this piece and others. You guys are awesome! Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

So here is chapter 4! Read, Review, and Enjoy :)

Doubles & Valentines

Chapter 4: Ally's POV

The limo ride didn't take long, but it felt like we were in that gloomy disco ball for hours. Kira did nothing to dissolve the tension. I tried to smile. Austin did too. He'd slung his arm around my shoulders and I'd melted into his side. The contact had the same effect on both of us; calming reassurance. It helped his jaw to unset and his brows to unfurrow, but it had the opposite effect on Kira.

I became acutely aware of the fact that she was uncomfortable. The ease at which Austin and I fit together seemed to set her on edge. Her mouth always settled into a permanent frown after she spoke. Her hands stayed balled in her lap the whole ride. Her back arched away from Pierre when he tried to mirror Austin's position and wrap an arm around her.

I didn't know what to do, or really, what to say. I let Austin do the work while I followed.

The bejewelled door the the limo opened, the driver appearing on the other side. His pressed black tuxedo and forced smile beamed in at us.

"Miss. Starr, Mr. LaCroix, Mr. Moon, and Miss... Uhhh... Mr. Moon's girlfriend," he said.

How fascinating it was that he remembered everyone's name, but mine. He probably wasn't told my name. I noted the name tag on his chest. Tony. I smiled at Tony and he nodded.

"We're at our destination. When you need my services again, please call."

Austin climbed out of the limo first and held out his hand in order to help me. I took it and steadied myself on the walkway in front of Chez Nouvelle, the fancy restaurant Kira had picked.

"Thank you, Tony," Austin said.

"You're welcome Mr. Moon," Tony said. He seemed surprised at the pleasantries, but nonetheless, genuine. They shook hands before Tony turned to me, holding out his hand. I took it. "I'm sorry, Miss, I wasn't given your name unfortunately."

"Ally," I said. "Ally Dawson."

He bobbed his head and smiled. "I'll remember that for the ride home."

Tony released my hand and I moved out of the way of the limo door. Austin put an arm around my waist and backed me away from the flow of people walking into and lining up for the restaurant. I turned around in his arms and faced the front of Chez Nouvelle. From the outside, it wasn't that impressive. A wooden lined square building with a black awning spelling out its name in gold. The only thing that seemed to set it apart from any other restaurant was the security guards standing before the glass doors. A red rope separated the elite clientele from the lower class outside.

Not only did Chez Nouvelle have a reputation for being the fanciest restaurant in town, it also had a reputation for being the best and most expensive. Judging by the security surrounding the place, all those assumptions were looking more true than false. It also made me wonder how Kira got a reservation so easily, especially given the day.

"Yeah, we'll call you, Joe!" Kira said.

I turned around to see Kira waving off the limo driver who I had come to know as Tony. He hesitated for a second, hand paused in mid air, but merely rolled his eyes and loped back into the front seat.

"Ignorance is bliss," Austin whispered to me. I stifled a laugh.

Kira began walking towards the doors and gestured for us to follow. I grabbed Austin's hand and hurried to catch up. She was already talking to the bouncer by the time we appeared behind her. It was then that I noticed the 21+ sign hanging on the fogged glass doors. I nodded towards the sign, pointing it out to Austin.

"Uh, Kira," he said.

She followed his gaze and shook her head as the bouncer opened the doors for us. "Don't worry about it."

I caught Austin's gaze and narrowed my eyes. Kira continued to flirt with the bouncer. The stout man grinned and let out a hearty laugh. The conversation lasted about a minute longer, him holding the door open the whole time. Finally he told us all to head inside and have a good night. Kira touched his shoulder and informed him that her dad would be in touch soon. She walked in first, followed by Pierre. Austin held open his arms for me to go before him. Once I had passed, I felt his hand on the small of my back.

After the initial doors, there was another set of glass doors, these ones not manned by intimidating men in suits. Kira stopped at the podium set up just inside the second set of doors. A man in a pressed all black suit, with a bow tie stood at the podium, condescending us over the top of his thick rimmed glasses.

"Hello Robbie," Kira said in greeting.

"Ah," the man said in a British accent that was borderline fake. "I wasn't aware you would be gracing us tonight, Miss. Starr."

"Yes," she said. "Daddy got us reservations quite late. He's already apologized for that."

"So I see," Robbie said, glancing down at the reservation book. He ran his finger down the long list of names and stopped at one near the bottom. "For four?"

"Yes." Kira nodded.

Robbie looked up and made eye contact with a woman in a simple black slip dress. The woman nodded, picked up a stack of menus, and walked over to the podium. She was grinning the whole time, flashing pearly white, perfectly straight teeth.

"This is Danika. She'll be taking you to your seats."

"Thank you," Austin said. Kira shot him a glare and sauntered off after Danika.

She led us through the whole restaurant, around the winding rows of white tables and red booths. I had to admit, though crowded, Chez Nouvelle was beautiful. A string quartet was playing somewhere in the building, setting a calming and romantic vibe. Danika led us to the back of the restaurant where the wall was made up entirely of windows that overlooked the beach. I could see there was a patio, but due to the slightly chilly temperatures tonight, it was closed. She place the menus down on a white clothed table with deep mahogany booth seats. Our table had a view. And a rather nice, unobstructed view at that. I could see the whole restaurant from this vantage point, along with a large portion of the deserted, crashing waves of the beach.

Kira slipped into the booth first and Pierre moved in next to her. I watched her lips purse for a moment, before a plastic smile came back to them. I gestured for Austin to go in first, and he did. I shrugged off my jacket and hung it on the knob at the end of our booth.

I sat down and once more noticed Kira's eyes on me. On my cleavage. I suddenly grew very uncomfortable of the low neckline.

I pretended not to notice, reaching out and passing the menus to everyone. Kira's glare was penetrable though. It was as if she was angry that she hadn't thought to wear a low cut dress. And then I realized why. Pierre's eyes were shifting. He was unabashed in his gaze. I couldn't believe that he hadn't seen cleavage before. Certainly he had. I had seen plenty just by going to school. And if not at school, definitely at the beach or just casually walking around any place in Florida.

He shouldn't have been staring. Not at anyone. But especially not at me. I was not any more desirable than Kira - maybe personality wise, I was, but that's beside the point. We basically had the same body type. Given the choice, I would be looking at my girlfriend and complimenting her instead of whatever he was doing.

I guess a low cut bra and some boob tape went a long way with some guys... Didn't make it any better though.

I flipped my hair off of my back and let it cascade over my shoulders, partially covering my skin. I made no eye contact with either of them, but I saw them both move back in their seats.

"Ally," Kira said after clearing her throat.

I looked up at her to see a smile back on her lips.

"I love your necklace," she said. "Where'd you get it from? Is it like a Cupid?"

I felt Austin's hand slip around my waist and squeeze my hip. Both Kira and Pierre's eyes fell slightly higher on my chest, studying the necklace. I had been wearing it every single day for the past 2 months, but apparently this was Kira's first time noticing it.

"It's an angel," I said.

"Oh," she said and nodded. "Well it's really pretty and looks expensive. Was it a gift?"

I absently looked over to Austin, smiling like an idiot. "Yeah it was."

She turned her gaze to Austin. "Valentine's Day?"

"Christmas," he said.

She nodded and made a noise of recognition as a waitress, in a black slip dress similar to Danika's, walked up to our table. The waitress had her long red hair up in a high ponytail and the darkest lined eyes I had ever seen. Or maybe they just stood out against her very pale skin. She had a black apron wrapped around her waist, which she pulled a pen and a small pad of paper from.

"Good evening, everyone," she said. "I hope you're all having a nice night so far and continue to have one. I'm Courtney. I'll be your waitress for tonight. If you need anything at all, just stick your hand up and I'll be right over."

Kira smiled. I noticed Pierre's eyes on Courtney's ample chest. It was starting to get a little weird.

"So has anyone been here before or has anyone gone over the menu?"

"I've been here a bunch of times with Daddy," Kira said.

"Right," Courtney nodded, red hair and chest bouncing as she did so. "This is your usual table. I hope you're liking the view tonight as much as other nights."

"It's alright," Kira shrugged.

Courtney bit her lips. She shifted awkwardly, then smiled again. "Anything I can do to make your night better?"

"Oh no," Kira said. "Everything's lovely."

"Excellent. So what can I get for drinks tonight?"

"I think our usual drink order should be good."

"What's the usual order?" Austin asked.

Courtney's eyes travelled over to him and widened slightly. She knew who he was. I grinned inwardly, it always made me happy when Austin gained some recognition in public.

"Austin Moon, right?" she said. He nodded. "I'm a big fan," she placed her hand on her chest in a humble gesture, then held out her fingers for him to see. A large purple stone with the letters AM engraved on it laid on her right ring finger. "Moon merch!"

Austin stared at it intently then awkwardly laughed. "I didn't even know that existed."

"Well I'm glad I was able to enlighten you," she smiled, a blush creeping over her cheeks.

Kira cleared her throat. "Courtney?"

"Right! The usual! Coming right up!"

Courtney sauntered away, checking back at our table once more as she headed to the bar.

"What's the usual?" Austin asked once more.

"Their finest red wine, of course!"

"Kira," I said. "How are we in here? It says 21+ and we're clearly not 21+. Not to mention, I don't think they can legally give us wine or any alcoholic drink. We're underage."

"Okay," Kira said, a smug smile sneaking onto her face. "Let me tell you something about having a lot of money."

Austin rolled his eyes. Pierre perked up at the mention. I stared at her impassively.

"The rules don't apply to me. Daddy donated enough money to this place to get it started up. His brother is the head chef. Daddy could pull the rug out from under their feet if he wanted to. If they didn't do what he wanted. And tonight he wants us to have a good time, have some good wine, and have a good experience. The age limit on both of those things doesn't matter at all. I basically own this place so I can do whatever the fuck I want in here, including ordering any drink I want to. Besides, when did the two of you get so stuffy about alcohol? Pretty sure you had your fair share on Halloween."

"Fair share. Too much. Enough to make me never want to drink again... Same thing right?" Austin mumbled under his breath.

I smirked and shook my head. "I wasn't talking about Halloween or what I do on my own time. I was just concerned about possibly getting this establishment in trouble or closed down from them serving us illegally."

"It's fine they can do whatever they want."

Courtney appeared at the table again. She put wine glasses down in front of each of us and poured the wine in each cup. A deep red, almost black, substance poured out of the bottle. I took note of the name on the side. Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grands Echezeaux, Pinot Noir, from France. My dad was obsessed with wine. This bottle was about $1000, if I remembered correctly. Well damn.

"I'm assuming you're also going with the usual appetizer, entree, and dessert, then?" Courtney asked.

"Appetizer and entree, yes. For dessert, Daddy called in something special."

"Of course," Courtney said, collecting our useless menus. "I'll put the order in right now."

I stuck out my hand and cleared my throat. "Courtney?" I said and she turned back to our table, smiling attentively. "Is it possible for me to get a glass of water?"

"Oh, yeah for sure!" Courtney said, emphatically nodding. She gestured around the table. "Anyone else?"

"I'll have one too," Austin said.

"I 'av one too," Pierre said.

She looked to Kira but Kira looked away. Courtney tapped the table three times, then swayed back to the bar.

Kira made a noise of disgust. "Did you guys really need water?"

"Hey," Austin said. "It's free. So, why not?"

"Money isn't the point I'm objecting to. Like why do you need water? Is wine not good enough? Do you not like wine? Can you not have wine? Are you pregnant?"

"What?" I said.

"Yes," Austin grinned. "Yes I am. Thank you for noticing."

I laughed, thankful for Austin making light of Kira's insane line of questioning. Kira scowled, then rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," she said. "At least try it."

I reached toward the glass, grabbing the fluted bottom, and brought it to my lips. Although my dad may be obsessed with wine, has been on hundreds of vineyard tours, would love to go to France and Italy solely for the wine and vineyards, and brings home a free or cheap bottle of expensive wine whenever he can, wine is still not my thing. I may taste what he brings home, but that's only because he makes everybody taste it. For that reason, I expected to hate this $1000 bottle. But I didn't.

Strawberries came to mind when I smelt the Pinot Noir. Though I knew that it was made from a special kind of potent grapes. Whatever the case, it smelt good. Probably the best I'd had. The taste was comparable. Fruity and refreshing.

I licked my lips and placed the glass back down on the white table cloth. My lipstick was now printed around the rim of the glass.

"Good, right?" Kira said smugly.

Austin took a sip of his and made a noise that sounded like he enjoyed it. I nodded. The wine was nice but it wasn't something I would drink every day or drink really any day apart from a fancy meal.

I glanced towards the kitchen and saw Courtney coming out with a large tray of food. That was fast. I wonder if they already had the food prepared for us so we wouldn't have to wait. The menus were definitely a formality.

"Oh perfect!" Kira said, her eyes tracking Courtney. "I love not having to wait!"

I pursed my lips. I don't remember her talking about being rich so much... But I hadn't really paid that much attention to her either. I was always irrationally annoyed and angry whenever Kira was around, so I never really listened. I guess I can place that emotion now as jealousy.

Hell yeah I was jealous that Kira was dating Austin. But we all know how that ended... Not to be smug.

"Alright, three waters," Courtney said, loading the water glasses off of her tray and passing them to Austin, Pierre, and I. "And the first course. A seafood medley, a side of bruschetta, and Kira's favourite, deep fried caviar. Enjoy!"

She unloaded each of the items, then piled tiny square plates next to the appetizers. I smiled and mumbled a thank you, as did Austin. I saw him shift uncomfortably beside me and I was well aware of the why.

"So Kira," Austin said. Kira snapped her head up at him and politely smiled. He had interrupted her while she was reaching for a plate. "What's the main course? Is it also fish?"

"Well there's this. And then they'll bring out the pre-dinner salad and then dinner."

"And what's dinner?"

"You don't want to just be surprised and enjoy what they bring?" she asked, clearly taken aback by his questioning of her food choices.

"I just want to be sure that I can eat something," Austin said, frustration creeping into his voice.

Kira's eyebrows raised and her lips parted. She was very obviously confused. And for something that she probably should have known after 6 months of dating Austin.

"Austin's allergic to most seafood," I explained.

I'd learned that very early on in our relationship. And by early on, I mean in grade 2 when he had an allergic reaction at school after eating a tuna fish sandwich. I barely knew him then, but I still remembered the commotion 7 years later when we became friends at 14. If I knew some tiny detail about his life barely having known him then why wouldn't Kira know having been his girlfriend?

She put her hand to her chest and gaped. "What?" she said, gaze shifting between Austin and I. "No way. You've eaten seafood with me before."

"I can have halibut and haddock," Austin said, shrugging.

"No, no," Kira shook her head vehemently. "I remember being at Rosey's on the beach with you over the summer and we were eating lobster!"

"I've never had lobster," he said.

"You totally did, remember?" Kira said. She had fully abandoned her quest to get food. Pierre was the only one who had pulled out a plate and piled some food onto it. "We had a seat right by the water and we were listening to some random singing. It was one of Daddy's people. We were eating lobster and you said it was the best thing you had ever had."

"Are you sure this wasn't a dream?"

"No it was Rosey's! You know Rosey's!"

"Yeah, I do. I've been there with Ally. But it was the first time I'd been last month."

Kira's gaze shifted to me and then she shook her head. "We went to Rosey's. I had on the red string bikini and we went out to the point after dinner because lobster is that sexy food that makes people feel like sex."

"I think that's oysters," Austin said. "But this didn't happen."

"Yeah, it did!" Kira slammed her fists down on the table and narrowed her eyes at Austin. He held back a laugh. "I took off your swim trunks and gave you a blowjob!"

I shifted awkwardly in my seat. I was under the impression that Austin and Kira's relationship was fairly non-sexual. In fact, he had told me that Kira had planned to save herself until marriage, that included any form of oral sex. Actually he hadn't told me that... But I'd overheard that particular conversation one day when he was talking to Dez. Either way this wasn't exactly dinner talk and was even less something to talk about around your ex's new girlfriend.

"I - What?" Austin said. "Kira that never happened. I don't - Are you sure this wasn't someone else?"

"Are you asking me if I cheated on you?" Kira said. Austin looked on impassively, but the slight shift in eyes told me that's what he was thinking. "No. This was you. You told me that I was better than your ex girlfriend."

"Kira," Austin said. "You were my first girlfriend."

Her mouth opened then closed, then opened once more. She put her head in her hands and rubbed at her face. "Shit. Yeah that's right."

"Rosey's just opened in July..." Austin mumbled, more to himself than anything. "We started dating in April."

"Okay," Kira said, abruptly looking up at him. "Okay, so I cheated on you. But it was just sexual things. I totally thought that was you. Oh my God I can't believe I said that."

"Wow," I whispered and reached towards the plates. I picked up a few slices of the bruschetta, noticing that a lot of the food had been already taken by Pierre. I locked eyes with him for a moment and he looked between Kira and Austin. He may not have a full grasp on what was being said, but he could tell that it wasn't good news. Or really anything that helped to salvage this dinner.

The tension could definitely be cut with a knife.

"That shouldn't make you feel any better about what you guys did," she said.

"It doesn't," Austin said. "I actually do feel bad about ending things that way and have apologized for it. Not that you have now... But I don't see how what I did is any worse than what you did, if it was as you said, 'just sexual things'"

"There's a difference between sexual things with people you don't give a shit about and someone you have a genuine connection with."

I blinked. Did she just admit that Austin and I were the better couple?

"People?"

Kira flushed. She grabbed a plate and started piling caviar on it. Austin smirked and took a plate too.

"Only a few," Kira mumbled through a mouthful of food.

Austin made a noise of recognition and picked up a piece of bruschetta. I looked over the 'seafood medley'. For the most part it was shrimp, but there were also lobster tails, oysters, and scallops. It was more a collection of seafood than a medley with rice or pasta. All of which I wouldn't be able to eat if I planned on kissing Austin again tonight. And I did.

I always did.

"So when you say you can't have seafood, what does that mean?" Kira asked.

"It means I'm allergic to it."

I stifled a laugh.

"Yeah but how allergic?" Kira asked. "Like if it's just here will you die? Or if Ally eats it will you die? Or if you eat it will you die?"

"If it's just there and I can smell it, I won't die. If Ally eats it and then kisses me, I may get a little uncomfortable and may need to take a Benadryl or something, but I won't die. But if I eat it and don't go to the hospital or something, I could die."

"Oh," Kira said.

"But that's why he doesn't eat it," I said, still trying not to laugh. Sometimes this girl amazed me.

"Of course."

As if through some unspoken code, Kira and Pierre ate the seafood while Austin and I tackled the bruschetta. And staying true to Chez Nouvelle's reputation, it was probably the best I had ever had. We finished the food shortly after the odd seafood conversation and as if she were watching our table, Courtney showed up to take our empty plates and exchange them for the pre-dinner salad.

Chicken Caesar. With Parmesan.

It was even better than the bruschetta and probably the best salad I had ever eaten. If I could make this at home, I totally would. I just might have to go to chef school before I do so.

"So what's the main course?" Austin asked after he had finished his salad.

"Salmon and steak with garlic roasted potatoes and sautéed vegetables," Kira supplied. She seemed pleased with herself. "Should I tell Courtney no on the salmon?"

"Maybe just for me," Austin said.

Kira nodded. "I recommend it for everyone else since it pairs perfectly with this wine!"

"I'll pass on the salmon too," I said, grateful that Austin gave me an excuse to not eat salmon. I didn't care for the fish, to be honest.

Kira nodded once more and pursed her lips. "And what about you, Pierre?" she said, a venom in her voice. "Do you want salmon?"

"Ah yes," Pierre said. "Yes to ze fish."

Kira smiled. "Good."

Courtney appeared at the table and stacked the salad plates on top of each other.

"Okay so it'll be about 15 minutes until the main course. Sound good?" Courtney asked.

Kira smiled tightly and nodded. "Yes, it does. But there's been a slight change of plans. Instead of the 4 salmon, there should only be two."

"Two to be shared for the table?" Courtney asked and got her pad and pen out for the second time that night.

"No," Kira snapped. "One for me. One for Pierre."

"And just the steak for..." Courtney trailed off and gestured to me then to Austin. "Austin and his date?"

"Exactly."

"Right away!" She shoved the pad and pen back into her apron pocket, picked up the piled empty plates and balanced them in the crook of her elbow, then smiled once more before walking away.

I looked at Austin and he grabbed my knee under the table, rolling his eyes while doing so. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kira and Pierre talking quietly. Or at least, Kira talking while Pierre nodded politely. I leaned my head against Austin's shoulder. Yes, the food was good, but Kira was draining.

Austin's hand slipped from my knee to around my waist. He kissed my forehead.

"The food's good, eh?" he mumbled.

"Very!" I whispered. "The company I could do without though."

His lips quirked up but his eyes narrowed a second later. I turned my gaze from him and saw Pierre and Kira passionately making out on the other side of the bench. I almost laughed.

"Well I didn't expect that," Austin said.

"Anything is possible," I said.

"This isn't exactly the right setting."

"When is anything the right setting for her?"

"Apparently never with me. She told me the furthest she goes is kissing."

I laughed. "Well given where his hand is about to go, I don't think that's true."

"And it's up her skirt."

"She seems to be enjoying it."

"She's moaning at a dinner table."

"Why are you surprised?"

"Because I'm naive, apparently."

"Apparently. Did you actually not know she was cheating on you?"

"I had no clue. But I guess my mind was a bit elsewhere during the summer."

"Elsewhere?"

"I wanted to break up with her."

"So why didn't you?"

"Because her dad said that people who date his daughter don't fair well in the music industry if they break her heart."

"So you didn't have the balls to do it?"

"Well you see how it's worked out now. I kinda screwed myself over."

"I helped."

"I started it."

"Started what?"

"Dating Kira. For the record, I have no clue who initiated things between us."

"I think it was me. I remember kissing you first."

"I remember taking off your bra before you started taking off anything of mine."

"I thought you couldn't remember any of it?"

"Some of it has come back to me."

"Same here."

"There's tongue involved now."

"What?"

"Kira and Pierre. There's tongue."

I looked back at Kira and Pierre. Still going at it. Still as urgent.

"Would they notice if we left?" I asked Austin.

"I feel like no."

"Can we leave?"

"And miss out on the foo- Her hand is down his pants."

"Oh God. I sure hope they wash their hands before they eat."

"Are you kidding? She sometimes forgets to brush her teeth. Do you really think she's big on cleanliness?"

"This is weird. I feel dirty."

"Are they expecting us to watch..?"

"I feel like they'd want us to look away."

"I feel like they don't care what we do."

"I feel like that's more Kira who doesn't care."

"Yeah, she kissed him first anyway."

"Yeah, but he's pervy."

"What?"

"He's been staring at everyone's boobs all night."

"Really?"

"Yup! Mine, all the staff here, Kira, that woman over there... So I feel like he's totally down with this happening. And probably us watching."

"Kind of not okay with that..."

"With what?"

"Him being... What did you say? Pervy?"

"Pervy."

"Creep."

"Can I go home now?"

"Ally, I want to eat the steak."

"You can eat steak anywhere."

"Not fancy steak."

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

"I promise to make it up to you."

"What does that mean?" I asked. "How are you making things up to me?"

"It's a surprise."

"Isn't everything?"

"Shhh. I'll just make it up to you. I know this isn't pleasant but at least we're getting it out of the way."

"You don't think she'll ask again?"

He shook his head, his chin rubbing against the crown of my head as he did so. "Probably not. At least I hope not."

"Okay, fine. But that still doesn't answer what we're supposed to do now."

Austin shrugged. "Do you think they can hear us?"

"God I hope not. That'd be so awkward."

"You say that like this whole night hasn't been awkward."

"Oh it has. But this takes the cake."

"Oooh cake!"

I laughed. Though honestly I could really go for some cake right now. I wonder if Austin could make this night up to me through cake. Like really good chocolate ganache cake. With mousse.

I gazed over at Kira and Pierre. It was disgusting, the show they were making. Austin and I weren't the only ones to notice either. I saw some sympathetic glances from couples at other tables and some of the waiters eyeing us suspiciously. Oh God why.

The relief that flooded through me when Courtney finally returned to our table could almost be heard. Her full tray of food made my stomach groan, a noise that was loud enough to pull Kira and Pierre apart.

"Oh geez," Kira muttered, feigning embarrassment. She dramatically placed her hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry you guys. I didn't mean to get so caught up!"

"It's all good. Love is love, right?" Courtney said.

"Oh it's not love," Kira said as Pierre grinned. Definitely just a hookup.

Courtney nodded and started passing plates around the table. "Two steaks for Austin and his date. And steak and salmon for Kira and her date. Enjoy!"

Courtney walked away once more, swaying her hips and bouncing with each step. Pierre watched. Austin, the intended viewer, I was sure, stared adoringly at his food. I looked down at my own. The steak, cooked well done, with charred grill lines, and glistening in blue cheese sauce sat in a bed of parsley and lettuce on my plate. There were small red potatoes cut in halves and spiced with garlic, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper that had dipped into some of the blue cheese sauce, taking up a quarter of my plate. In the final quarter were grilled tomatoes and roasted green beans and peppers. My mouth watered. The plate was perfect. And my God, it smelt absolutely perfect too.

I recognized that Kira was speaking, but I was way too engrossed in my food to notice. I no longer cared whether or not she washed her hands or what she did on her side of the table. I just wanted the food. Austin had the right idea in staying here just for the steak.

Flavour exploded in my mouth at the first bite and I had to suppress a moan. That is how fucking amazing the food was. If I could afford this place without relying on Kira to pay the bill, I would totally eat here every day.

"Wow," Kira said. "You're really enjoying that."

"Well yeah," I said. "This is undoubtedly the best thing I have ever eaten."

"Just wait until dessert," Kira said.

"Thank you so much for bringing us here," I said. Well that's a surprise. I hadn't expected to thank Kira for tonight.

Austin scoffed lightly beside me, his lips quirking up slightly. He hadn't expected my gratitude either. But my God, this food.

Kira smiled. She looked down at her own food and started digging in. She teared at the salmon, perfectly pink, and plopped some into her mouth.

"You know," she said, chewing open mouthed. "I think this is the first time I've ever seen you eat."

"What?" Austin said.

"Not you," Kira said, rolling her eyes. "Ally. I've never seen her eat. I swear to God I thought you had an eating disorder for the longest time."

I blinked. Austin ran a hand over his face. What exactly did she expect me to say to that?

"You don't, do you?"

"I don't," I said, my fork hovering over the plate. "Very, very much don't."

"No?" she said, scrunching up her nose. "That's good! Really good. Before my mom left Daddy, she was obsessed with this stuff. Would not touch any form of meat, any gluten, any dairy, any sweets. She would literally only eat fruits and vegetables. It was crazy. I had the worst snack food as a kid."

"Is she still obsessed with it?" I asked.

She shrugged and finished off the last of her salmon. That was fast. "I dunno. I haven't seen her in like 8 years."

Austin's gaze shifted over to me. I assumed that meant he knew about her mom. Maybe? I met his eyes and he rolled them. I narrowed mine. What did that mean?

"I thought your mom visited this summer. Didn't I meet her?" Austin said.

"Oh. Yeah, you're right!" Kira said. "I totally forgot about that. Yeah she's coming back in a few weeks to meet Pierre too."

I nodded. "That sounds good."

Pierre smiled at the mention of his name. Austin turned towards him.

"So Pierre," he said. "How long are you here for?"

Pierre opened his mouth to answer, but Kira interrupted. "Pierre doesn't really speak English all that well."

"Oh, okay," I said and smirked. "Pierre, combien de temps est votre voyage?"

Pierre grinned. Kira scowled. I knew basic Spanish from elementary school. I knew a basic sense of Swahili from my mom's journeys through Africa. And I knew French from being a precocious little child who wanted to learn something. In fact, I was fairly fluent in French. Or I liked to think I was. I was probably no where near the style or finesse of Parisian French.

"Je suis ici pour le semestre," Pierre told me.

I nodded and smiled. "Donc jusqu'en juin?"

"Non. Mai."

"He's here for the semester," I said. "Until May."

"You speak Spanish?" Kira asked.

"I speak French, yes."

"French?"

"Uh, yeah," I said, shrugging. "That's what that was."

"Oh my God," Kira said, blinking rapidly, adoringly. She smiled sweetly and placed her hands on Pierre's shoulders. "I didn't know you spoke French too! You're so multitalented, babe!"

Austin coughed, violently, dramatically disguising a laugh. I bit my lip to suppress a smile and focused my attention back on my food. Kira continued to stare at Pierre through bites of her meal. Austin's hand came under the table and settled on my knee, squeezing once more. I shifted, almost imperceptibly, closer to Austin. I looked over to him and he mouthed, "almost done." I smiled down at the table. He was right. Dinner was almost over. I could hear forks scraping at the plates, getting the last of sauces, spices, and grease crusted on the bottom.

I continued eating. Everything. Everything was amazing. I dipped the last bite of my steak in the blue cheese sauce, saturating it in the last morsel. I had nibbled on each item at first, figuring out which was the best and which I would save for last. I'd eventually decided on the steak, solely for the reason that I don't get to eat steak too often. And when I do, it's never this good.

I chewed the last bite and laid my fork and knife down on the plate, signalling that I was done. I placed my hand on top of Austin's under the table. He turned over his hand, entwined our fingers, and rubbed circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I shot him a small smile. He returned it. I saw him glance across the table at Kira and Pierre. They were having a staring contest, it seemed. Kira was watching him eat, staring into his eyes. He continued to eat, lips turned up all the while.

Austin brought my hand up to his lips and kissed them gently.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he said.

"Same to you," I whispered.

He leaned his head towards me and after sneaking one final glance to the opposite side of the table, I leaned in too. A short, sweet, soft kiss came between us. Even though it was only a peck, I felt my uncertainties about tonight slip away.

I pulled back from him and huddled myself into his side. This is how I wanted to spend my Valentine's Day. Just. With. Austin.

I wanted to be at home in sweatpants, with no makeup, and my hair pulled back. I wanted to be cuddled up on a bed or a couch. I wanted to be eating chocolate and strawberries. I wanted to be laughing, joking, singing. But instead I was here. And instead, I still felt so in love with Austin.

Up against his side, breathing him in, feeling his arm draped around my shoulder, I felt comforted. In love. I felt like I would have if it had just been the two of us. For the first time tonight, I felt perfectly content.

The announcement of dessert furthered my mood. Give me chocolate and I'll be yours forever. Kira kept silent on what exactly the dessert would be. In fact, the table kept pretty silent. Both Austin and I and Kira and Pierre had settled into silence. It seemed as though everything had already been said and all we wanted now, was each other. The warm, comforting embrace of the person we trusted most in the world.

Or at least that's how I was feeling... I'm not so sure if Kira felt that way about Pierre.

Courtney returned to the table, swapping out our dinner plates and handing us hot, damp cloths to wash our hands before dessert. She announced that dessert was on its way before sauntering off once more.

"So how do you like the head of the team Austin fan club?" I asked, laughing.

"You know," Austin said. "I'm not sure, but I think, she's not the head of it."

"How do you know?"

"Because she's not nearly as crazy," he shook his head and returned my laughter. "Plus she's not you."

"You calling me crazy?"

His hand tightened around my shoulder. "Absolutely not. Two separate things. You're my number one fan who actually knows and respects me. But somewhere out there there's someone who has a shrine to me on their walls, has every possible merchandise available, knows my life story, has been to all of my performances, is trying to figure out where I live, and would die if I ever met them."

I giggled and slapped his chest lightly. "Don't flatter yourself, Austin. I'm sure nobody's that crazy for you."

"Ouch," he said, faking a pout.

"I mean, except for me." I straightened up and out of his arms, coming close to his face. "You've seen my shrine to you."

"I'm not going to lie, I'm a little creeped out."

I winked and laughed. "You should be!"

I heard something slam down on the table and looked over to find a giant plate of desserts. Courtney passed out small dessert plates for each of us and told us to enjoy.

My eyes widened. Oh good God. The tray was the size of the table, only leaving enough room for the tiny plates that had been passed out. And the abundance of dessert. Oh. My. God. In the centre of the tray was a full chocolate cake, that looked to be about 7 layers, drizzled with ganache and sprinkled with chocolate shavings. Surrounding it were all sorts of little finger food desserts, each in variants of 4. Brownies smothered in chocolate, blondies, chocolate and white chocolate mousse cups, chocolate dipped Rice Krispies, red velvet cream cheese cookies, cheesecake with strawberry glaze, lemon , blueberry, and chocolate tartlets, cream puffs, vanilla bean fudge, chocolate covered strawberries, and an uncountable amount of truffles.

Holy shit.

I sure hoped we got doggy bags for all of this.

"Wow," Austin said. I looked over at him to see a look that, no doubt, mirrored my own. His eyebrows were raised, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar.

Absolute astonishment.

"Eat up, guys," Kira said.

I wasn't sure if I had room. With all the rich and chocolatey desserts on that tray, I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat any without feeling sick. I was already stuffed from the previous courses. I hadn't expected dessert to be this extravagant.

Kira cut into the cake centrepiece and dished out a piece for everyone. I held out my plate and watched as the 7 layers fell onto it. Austin began piling dessert on top of his cake, taking one of everything. I grabbed the cups of mousse and a large cream puff, deciding that with this amount of food, I should probably be eating my favourites first.

After some time of eating in stunned, yet amazed silence, Kira spoke.

"Okay," she said. "I wanted to tell you guys over dessert why I brought you here."

My eyes trailed from my spoon filled with mousse and up to Kira's face. Her eyebrows knitted together while she bit her lower lip. She was nervous?

"Why specifically dessert?" Austin asked.

"Because Daddy always taught me that dessert is the best part of a meal and the best time to apologize."

Austin dropped his fork. "Apologize?"

Kira nodded. Her hands moved across the table and she gestured for us to hold them. I hesitated, staring down at the palm of her overturned right hand for a few beats of a minute. Austin slowly placed a hand in hers and she closed her fingers around it. Her gaze then turned to me. It took all of my courage and trust to actually grab her hand.

Only after she had closed her fingers around mine, did I remember where her hand had been earlier in the dinner. That wash cloth probably hadn't done much cleaning. I almost took my hand back, but instead made a mental note to wash it profusely once I got the chance.

"I know I did once before but I just wanted to make it more official and more sincere," Kira said.

Austin opened his mouth to speak - his jaw had set again, his eyes had a spark behind them - but no words came out. He let out a long breath and closed his eyes.

"I know," Kira whispered. "I know you probably have about a hundred problems with me and you're probably not going to resolve them any time soon, which I don't expect you to do, but I still wanted to apologize."

My head bobbed slightly, some form of acknowledgement. The corners of her mouth upturned.

"I can admit to some really, really bad behaviour, both before we broke up and after. And I can admit to maybe still being bad."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well I'm sure you've noticed that Austin hasn't exactly been very busy in the past few months," she said.

My eyes drew over to Austin once more. His eyes shot open at the statement. He opened his mouth, didn't trust himself, closed his mouth. Kira abruptly let go of our hands. Austin's hand gripped his fork hard, making his knuckles go white. I placed my hand on his thigh and turned back to Kira.

"And you had something to do with that?" I asked.

"Technically," she said, drawing circles on the table with her fingers.

Austin's eyebrows furrowed. "Technically?" his voice was tight.

She bit her lip. "I'm so sorry. I've been really petty and Daddy has just fostered that. When you cheated on me and everything came out, which I'm also sorry about because all of those rumours were my fault, anyway when that happened, Daddy asked me if I still wanted you to have a career. I said no. And even after I apologized to the two of you, I never told Daddy to lay off."

"So the fact that I have been denied every possible chance to advance my career is your fault?"

She blinked at him. "If you want to see if that way."

"What other way am I supposed to see it, Kira?" he asked.

I could tell he was struggling to keep his voice down. Struggling not to jump across the table and murder her. Not literally... But he was struggling to keep his anger in check. I didn't blame him. I had expected some sabotage from Kira, but I hadn't expected all of it. Throughout this dinner I may have been hesitant and I may have felt awkward, but Austin had decided to be fine. I found it more than a little ironic that he was the one who was having a bad time tonight. He may have been right about Kira wanting to extend the olive branch, but why she was extending it was a little cloying.

I squeezed his thigh and shot him a small smile. He needed to cool off and know I was there for him.

His body relaxed at the touch, but the white knuckled grip on the fork still stayed.

"I'm sorry," Kira said. "I know from growing up in this business, that playing around with someone's career isn't something you do. I know that and I still did it. And Daddy still did it. So I'm sorry."

"How does sorry fix what you've done?" Austin asked, voice barely above a whisper.

"I can fix it," Kira said. She smiled and nodded. Her hands moved busily beneath the table, working their way through the bedazzled red clutch that laid next to her. She pulled out a slip of blue paper and pushed it across the table. "I have fixed it."

Austin and I leaned over the paper. Written in scratchy, hard pressed printing that slightly resembled Kira's handwriting, was a date, a time, and a place. It was a proposal. A show for Austin at the end of April. A headlining show. A show where he would be getting paid for. A show at an arena that seated thousands.

"Oh my God," I said.

Austin released the grip on the fork and it came clattering down onto his plate. The figures proposed on this small sheet of paper were too good to be true.

"Is this a joke?" Austin asked. A smile quirked at the edges of his lips, but he had to be sure.

Kira shook her head. "Truthfully, this is a business dinner. I don't want to be petty anymore. I want my dad to help jump start your career again."

"There's no catch?"

"There is absolutely no catch. I don't have any stupid conditions about this and you can totally refuse if you want to. I just wanted to apologize and put this on the table."

"Why didn't your dad tell me?"

Kira rolled her eyes. "He was going to but I wanted to do it. This is my gesture. Not his."

Austin nodded. He laughed. He clasped his hands together, then pulled them apart, fidgeting. He bounced in his seat. He grinned.

"You're serious about this though? Like I get to perform again?"

"This is serious business, Austin," Kira said, laughing at his giddiness. "Now, eat your cake. That's serious too."

A&A

"That was ridiculous," I said as soon as the hot pink limo drove away.

"That was -" Austin ran his hands through his hair, still reeling. "That was wow. I don't even know what to say."

I bridged the distance between us on the sidewalk, grabbing hold of his shirt collar, pinning my body against his and grinning like an idiot. "Congratulations, superstar!"

His arms wrapped around me and he did what I knew he had been waiting to do ever since Kira told him about the new show. First he grabbed hold of my waist and spun me around in circles. I folded my legs and laughed, grasping his shoulders. And then he kissed me. I placed my feet on solid ground and matched his intensity. He dipped me low, leaning into the kiss. It was a passion I had yet to experience with him. I could taste the chocolate on his lips. Feel his hand clutching my back, in between my shoulder blades. Hear nothing but his heart beating fast with adrenaline and excitement on the quiet street around us. Smell him and only him. The best scent on earth. Like warm cookies and salt and rain and mint, somehow rolled all into one.

I saw stars. Behind my closed eyes I saw fire. Felt fire. The flames that always wanted to engulf me.

My breath came quick, as did his. Our breathing matched and soon, so did our heartbeats. I felt the blood rushing through my veins. I felt the goosebumps rising on my arms, my legs, my neck, my chest. I felt the head rush. I felt unsteady on my feet. I felt the tingling of my skin, responding to his touch. I felt the smoothness of his lips against mine. I felt the smile play out on his.

I opened my eyes as my body righted again. His arms remained wrapped around me as our lips parted. Our foreheads touched. He brought a hand up to my cheek and brushed a wave away from face. I smirked as he ran his thumb along my lower lip.

"Couldn't have done it without ya," Austin mumbled.

He closed the small gap between our lips once more. My eyes fluttered shut for the moment.

"I love you," he whispered.

"Love you too," I said, matching his tone, though it came out breathless.

"I'm sorry for dragging you along to this tonight," he said, his thumb trailing along my cheekbone.

I shook my head. "That's not something you need to apologize for. You seemed to be having a worse time than I was."

"Isn't that ironic?"

"Little bit."

Our lips met again. Short and sweet.

Austin looped a hand around my waist and gestured toward the house. I rested my head on his shoulder, suddenly overcome with tiredness, my nerves crashing down. He squeezed my hip, then kissed the top of my head.

"I'm so excited for you, Austin," I said. "I can only imagine what you must be feeling."

"I have no words," he said, laughing awkwardly. "Almost as good as when I was first signed."

I pulled away from his shoulder to look at his face. His joy was palpable. It was as though he was a child on Christmas morning.

"You're adorable," I whispered.

"I think we've been through this, Al. You're the adorable one. I'm just dashingly handsome, is all."

I laughed and swatted at his chest. "You're cute."

"Dashingly handsome."

"Fine," I said, sticking my tongue out at him. "Dashingly handsome."

Austin opened the door to his house and allowed me to walk in before him. He placed a hand on the small of my back. The first thing I did was slip out of my shoes. I sighed.

"Aw, you're short and cute again," he said, patting my head.

"Hey! I'm 5'2!" I said.

"Are you really?" he laughed. "So I'm basically a foot taller than you."

"You're not 6'2!"

"No," he said. "But I am 6' even."

I pouted. He laughed again and leaned down to kiss me.

"It's okay," he said, inches from my lips. "I like it this way. You're cute when you stand on your tiptoes."

I heard footsteps on the stairs. Austin's mom appeared midway down.

"I thought I heard voices!" she said.

Austin laughed as his mother rolled her eyes. She descended the rest of the stairs, already in pink striped button up pyjamas with her blonde hair up in a bun. I envied how comfy she looked.

"So how was dinner? How was Chez Nouvelle?" she asked, looking us over and gesturing for us to separate slightly. I took a step back and Austin turned to face her.

"It was really nice," I said. "Could have had better company, Kira was Kira and Pierre barely spoke, but I'm not going to complain since they paid."

"That's good. That's good," she said, nodding. "How was the food? Did you bring leftovers?"

Austin snickered again a passed over the small box of desserts we had smuggled. She peeked inside, her eyes grew wide.

"Oh my God," she said. "Would you look at all this?"

"Oh I've looked. And I've tasted. It's a wow," I said.

She walked into the kitchen and opened the box on the counter. Austin followed her and I followed him. He was still bouncing.

"Mom," he said in the kitchen.

"Yes, dear?" she said, barely looking up from the dessert. Her fingers hovered overtop of the contents of box, trying to decide which treat to pick.

"No, mom," he said, knocking on the countertop. "You have to look at me."

Mrs. Moon looked up from the food. Her expression shifted from engrossed, salivating, interest, to one much more serious. Her arms crossed across her chest and she looked between Austin and I.

"What's going on, Austin?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing bad," he said. He pulled the blue slip of paper out of his pocket and passed it across the table.

I laughed in spite of myself. It looked like a drug deal. Mrs. Moon's eyes locked on mine for a moment before she looked down at the paper.

"No way," she whispered. "Austin, what does this mean? Does this mean what I think it does?"

Austin nodded and his mom immediately pulled him into a hug. She swayed back and forth in wide intervals. I grinned at them. Mrs. Moon opened her arms and invited me into the hug. And for a good minute we were all swaying back in forth in a giant group hug.

"What's going on down here?" Mr. Moon asked, walking into the kitchen, an eyebrow raised.

"Dad," Austin's voice came from the middle of our hug. "I get to perform again! I officially have a big event here in Miami in April. And it's going to be marketed and tickets are going to go on sale soon and I get to have an opening act and I'm headlining and it's all starting up again."

"Wow, son, that's amazing!" Mr. Moon rushed over to our group and enthusiastically slapped Austin on the back, then joined the swaying mass. Once we had all separated, Mr. Moon walked over to the cabinet and pulled out a long box. "Well this calls for a celebration."

He placed the box on the counter, next to the desserts that Austin and I had brought home. He took off the lid to reveal the truffles that were the same brand as Austin had given me back in December. The expensively, exquisite truffles from Switzerland. We each took one, and though I was stuffed from dinner, I still ate the truffle.

I smiled at Austin from across the counter, demure, and sweet. He met my eyes, and mouthed an 'I love you.' I looked down at the floor, cheeks reddening, my hair falling in front of my face. I pushed the strand away as I drew my gaze back up to Austin. He tilted his head to the side, gesturing towards the door. I nodded.

"Hey I'm going to take Ally home," Austin said. "Be back in a bit."

I grabbed the piece of cake wrapped in a napkin from the box. My mom's favourite thing in the world was chocolate cake and this was one of the best I had ever tasted.

"Do you want a container for that, Hun?" Mrs. Moon asked.

"It's probably fine like this," I said.

"Oh no," she said already bending down to fine one. "Don't be silly."

She held out the container and I plopped the cake in. She hugged me one last time, wished me a happy Valentine's Day, and told me she'd see me tomorrow. I laughed because she probably would.

Austin touched my elbow and led me to the front door. I bent down and picked up my shoes. I didn't care anymore. They were not going back on.

"Ready?" Austin asked. I nodded. "Bye guys!"

Austin opened the passenger side door of his car for me. I sat down, settled into the chair, and buckled my seatbelt. He slammed the door on his side of the car and began drumming on the steering wheel, then suddenly stopped.

"Oh hey," he said. "You got me a present."

"Yeah I did," I said, waving it off. "They're just cookies."

"Double chocolate chip, M&M cookies, with caramel, from scratch?"

I laughed. "Exactly!"

"God I love you," he said.

I smiled, a blush creeping over my cheeks once more.

"Seriously though," he said reaching across the centre console of the car and holding my hand. "I love you so much. Thank you for going to this with me and thank you for just being the best person in the world. I truly couldn't do this without you."

"I'm not the one who made you who you are, Austin," I said. "You've done that all on your own. I've just been here watching you and giving you all the encouragement that you need. And I'm so glad that I have been here for you."

"You've made me who I am today," he said, bringing my hand up to his lips. "I don't know where I'd be without you."

"You'd still be a superstar."

"Just not as happy."

He closed the gap between us and kissed me. I rested my hand on the back of his neck, then pulled back.

"I love you," I whispered.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he whispered. "Should I get you home before the parents come calling?"

I giggled. "Let them call."

 **AN:** The final chapter/epilogue will be up within the next 3 weeks. I just have to get through the end of term first!:P


	5. Epilogue

**AN:** Hey guys... So it took me a bit longer than 2 weeks to get this up. I got sidetracked by another writing project that may or may not make an appearance on here sometime soon... But I had to finish this! I needed a final fluff scene that I had planned from the start and had hinted to in the first chapter. It's finally time for all of you to take a look at it. I'm hoping it was worth the wait!

As always, Read, Review, and Enjoy! :)

Doubles & Valentines

Epilogue: Ally's POV

3am was the time on the red illuminated clock in Austin's Mazda by the time I got home. 3:16am, to be exact. As I opened the door to my house, I was hit with waves of déjà vu from my attempt at sneaking in unnoticed last November. I waved at Austin, then turned to be confronted by my mother.

"Oh," I said, the word echoing in the darkened front foyer.

"Oh," my mother whispered, though it came out as more of a hiss.

My eyes adjusted to the dark and I could just make out the look on her face. Her eyes were narrowed, but her lips were toying between a scowl and a smirk. My eyebrows drew together as I tried to figure her out.

"What are you still doing up?" I asked. "You usually can't stay up past 11."

"I fell asleep on the couch waiting for you to get back," she admitted. "But I woke up when Austin's mom called a few minutes ago. Where have you two been?"

"Nowhere," I said to an eyebrow raise. "I mean, nowhere specifically. We just went for a drive to blow off steam."

She ran her hands over her face and started walking towards the family room, where I could see a light was still on. I shuffled out of my heels and coat before following her.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure you guys blew off some steam."

I stopped in the entrance to the family room at the sound of her voice.

"What?" I asked.

"Did I say that out loud?" She froze while bending over to turn off the light.

"Yes."

She sighed and the room flooded into darkness. I squinted, watching her pick up her cell phone, empty plate, and mug. She brushed past me into the kitchen and put her dishes in the sink before quickly typing something out on her phone.

"We didn't have sex, if that's what you're implying."

She sighed and gripped the edge of the sink. She shook her head from side to side, the stray strands of hair falling away from her ponytail and in front of her face. I stared down at the ground for a moment, unsure if I was asking for a fight. When I looked up again, she was facing me.

"Okay," she said. "I just worry about you. Both of you. And you stay out until God knows when, when you know you shouldn't have, and my mind starts to wander."

"I know how to handle myself," I said. "I don't want to do that yet and I can consciously make that decision, even at 3 in the morning."

"I know, Ally," she said. "Yes, I may have implied that, but that's not all I was worried about. I know that you know how serious sex can possibly be and I know that you know how to take care of yourself. I'm not disputing that. You just can't come home, without texting or calling or having any sort of contact, at 3am and expect me to be cool with it."

"I know."

"I mean, for all we knew, the two of you could have been dead in a ditch. Sex is the least of my worries."

I licked my lips. "That's not true, is it?"

She let out a slow huff of air and her lips managed a small smile. I stared at her face, counting the seconds it took for her to form a response. Eventually she shook her head and reached out to me.

"You're right, Ally." She squeezed my hand. "I worry about that. I worry about a lot of things. That's my job. I just don't like seeing you hurt physically or mentally. If you show up past curfew, I travel to worst case scenarios."

"Okay, mom," I said, chewing on a strand of hair. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry," she replied, dropping my hand and starting up the stairs. "Just don't do it again. Now get to bed."

* * *

A&A

* * *

I didn't realize how tired I was until I hit the bathroom. I looked disheveled, which was expected after a few hours of laughing and making out in a car, but my eyes were rid rimmed and starting to droop. I weigh my options. Would it take too long to shower? Should I just sleep in my makeup? How many bobby pins did I have in my hair?

After a few moments of deliberation, I quickly and very haphazardly wiped off my makeup, leaving traces on my eyes and mouth. I found some bobby pins, before putting my hair up in a ponytail, taking out my contacts, and deciding not to take a shower. I could sort it all out in the morning.

I headed into my room and heavily plopped down on my bed once I had brushed my teeth and changed into pyjamas. I placed my glasses on the bedside table and slipped underneath the covers and I started to get comfy. I reached to turn off the light and my phone buzzed.

"It's almost 4," I whispered to my empty room. "Who is calling right now?"

I put my glasses back on and glanced down at my called ID. Trish?

"Trish," I said into my phone. "It's 4am. What's up?"

"It's not 4am. It's 3:43," Trish said.

I rolled my eyes. Her voice was way too cheery at this hour. I sat up in bed and ran my hands along the comforter, waiting for her to explain why she was calling so late.

"How was the date?" she asked. I could hear the playful nature in her voice. She was expecting the worst.

"Ridiculous," I said. "And weird. She spend a good chunk of it feeling up Pierre. And I mean like really feeling him up. Like one step away from having sex right there in the restaurant."

She laughed. The sound echoed.

"Where are you right now?" I asked. "And why are you calling so late?"

"I'm in my bathroom," she said. "It's the only place that's basically soundproof in the house. Everyone's asleep and I'm not about to wake them up so... I figured you'd be up since you literally just replied to the text I sent at like midnight."

Right. I'd answered her in my own bathroom.

"I just got home."

"Seriously?" she said, causing me to hold the phone slightly away from my ear. "Hot date?"

"Oh my God, Trish."

"You get home so late, you have to wonder," she said, laughing once more. "What was it? A wild night in the back of that ratty car?"

"No," I said. "God, you sound like my mother."

"Your mom asked if you had a wild night in the backseat of a car?"

"No. She just assumed that's what Austin and I were doing this late at night. Which we weren't. We just drove for a long time after the date and then talked and made out on the beach for a while."

"So like, kind of a hot date?"

This time was my turn to laugh. "Not super hot, but yes, fun."

"So overall, good or bad date?"

"Honestly, really good," I said. I looked around my room as if someone were listening. "I don't know if I should tell you this or not -"

"I swear to God Ally, if -"

"Trish," I said.

Silence fell on the other end of the line, followed by a sorry. I rolled my eyes.

"Austin got his record deal back. He has some gigantic event that's going to happen in April!"

"Are you serious?" she said. "That's amazing! Holy shit! We have to celebrate!"

I laughed and nodded. "We do! I was thinking Rosie's for dinner tomorrow night?"

"Or Mini's!"

"Or Chez Nouvelle," I said, waving my hands around fancily and adjusting my voice accordingly.

"How was it?" Trish asked. "I've heard it's amazing!"

"The food was so good. Like literally the best thing I've ever tasted. Their dessert plate was... Just wow. Like I can't even describe. Austin has a doggy back that we could all snack on tomorrow."

"Oh I am so down for that!"

"Shoot," I said.

"What?"

"I left my cake in Austin's car."

"Well, I'm sure he'll give it to you tomorrow." A laugh. "Hey speaking of Austin, what does your Matchmaker Survey look like?"

"I haven't even looked at it. Hold on," I said.

I put my phone down on my bedside table and walked over to my messenger bag that was propped against the desk. In one swift motion, I opened it and pulled out the manila envelope. I slipped my finger along the inside of the envelope and opened it up. A grin appeared on my face as I saw my number one match.

"It's Austin," I said into my phone.

"What?" Trish said, sidetracked.

"My number one on the Matchmaker. It's Austin."

"Seriously?" she said. "That's the second year in a row!"

"Hmmm maybe it's telling me something. Maybe I should date him or something."

I laughed, followed by her lilting laughter on the other end. I heard her fidgeting and the distinct sound of tearing paper. I sat down on the edge of my bed and waited for her reply.

"Oh good God," she said.

Silence came over the phone line. All I could hear was her breathing. And then all I could hear was hysterical laughter.

"Trish?" I said. "What's going on?"

"This dumbass Matchmaker thing is ridiculous," she said.

"Why?"

"Because it matched me with Dez and it says we're 87% compatible."

I tried to suppress a giggle, but it came out anyway. "Well you know how accurate these things are! The fates have aligned, Trish! I see wedding bells in your future!"

"Oh shut up," she laughed.

Our conversation didn't last long after that. Trish only wanted to know two things from me; how the date went and what my Matchmaker results were. She made a vow that she would never ever marry Dez, before hanging up the phone. With their mutual love of Zaliens and quick thinking on their feet, I could see them working out. But I'm not one to talk. I've never been much of a match maker myself. I leave that for the survey printouts.

I slunk beneath my sheets once more, placing both my phone and my glasses on my end table. I smiled as I reached for cord to turn off my light and was once more interrupted. My phone buzzed.

I squinted down at the screen to see Austin's name scrawled across it. My hand felt around on my bedside table until I finally found the rounded leather box. I put my glasses on to fully see his message.

" _I'm_ _in_ _your_ _driveway_. I _have your cake."_

I smiled. Maybe I should forget cake more often.

* * *

 **END**


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